As eyeon explores the work of artists using Fusion in a variety of environments, we are always eager to share in our users' success stories.
We recently talked to Terry Wester of 12Forward in Dallas, Texas, and got the scoop on his facility and some of his current work.
Check out Terry's view on the functionality of Fusion and how it enables him to perform as a one-man-show in one of the most unique market sectors.
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| eyeon: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your position at 12Forward? |
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I'm the owner and part operator of 12Forward. We're mostly an edit house. We're six years old. I started the company with a small group of people, there are 12 of us.
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| eyeon: So that's how you got the name 12Forward… because you have 12 people? |
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Well, it's hard to explain. There is a religious connotation there, like the twelve disciples. When we started the company we were all people of different faiths,
but we all believed in doing the right thing and treating people the right way. We had all worked for companies where we were not treated the right way. The Forward
part of it came from Star Trek, because there is a place in the Next Generation called 10Forward, which was like a lounge. We always wanted to create a fun environment
that was like a lounge where people like to come and hang-out, not just work. So… a little bit of techy, a little bit of treky, and a little bit of religious thought.
Plus, we just wanted something that wasn't obvious.
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| eyeon: Can you describe in detail your position at 12Forward. Give us a day-in-the-life of Terry. |
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My wife and I own 12Forward. So, besides just running the company and managing all the logistics, I also do the effects work, the compositing and the animation.
Some days I don't even touch the computer, other days I'm working really hard on a project, so it's like, 'don't bother me,' (he laughs).
I do a lot of bouncing back and forth between LightWave and Fusion. I use them hand-in-hand, depending on the project. From my experience, clients don't always know what
they want. They say animation when they mean compositing, and they say compositing when they mean animation. It's up to me to take their input and then create their vision. As long as they leave happy, I'm happy.
Our philosophy is: we want clients walking out the door with a smile on their face and a quality production in their hand.
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| eyeon: What kind of clients do you serve at 12Forward? |
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We primarily work with ad agencies, which is mostly spot work. We've also done our fare share of corporate work as well. We've done a lot of corporate work for
Blockbuster and Neimon Marcus. We've worked on spots for Quest and Nissan. We do a lot of work for the Hispanic market. Being in Texas, we're really good partners with some of the Hispanic agencies, one in particular. We do a lot of work with
Bimbo Bread (pronounced Beem-bo). They are one of the biggest bread companies in the world. It's amazing to see how much the Hispanic market has grown. It's been a great
niche for us. We're always doing clean-up work. Most of it is work that nobody knows about because it's things like, taking raisins out of bread. A client comes to me and says, "We shot
this on-set, but realized the bread has too many raisins in it. Can you take some of them out?" So I'll spend three days removing raisins from this gorgeous film footage
(he laughs). There is a Spanish treat called a gansito that is sold in Mexico, which is like a Twinkie. We worked on a spot where the package had to be replaced.
So I completely deleted the package, created it in 3D, then comped it back in. Fusion played a huge part in that.
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| eyeon: How long has 12Forward been using Fusion? |
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I was using Fusion before we started the company.
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| eyeon: Were you the person who decided to use Fusion at 12Forward? |
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Yes. Fusion is great because I can use my render nodes for doing LightWave animation, but I can also use it for doing all my compositing. So I get dual use out of my render nodes.
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| eyeon: How do you find Fusion's operability compares to other packages you have used in the past? |
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Well, I haven't had to use any of the other compositing packages. I really got started with Fusion. I first saw it at NAB. It was the same NAB where one of your
competitors was finally releasing compositing software for PC. I looked at it and I asked, "Will it be multi-threaded?" and they responded "No." I had never heard
of Fusion, so I walked over to one of your pods and listened in on a demo. Fusion was shipping. It was multi-threaded, everything I was looking for.
I bought it a few months later, and there was no looking back. The product has grown and gotten better and better. I'm a big believer in small companies, mainly
because of the support.
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| eyeon: So you appreciate the tech support that eyeon offers? |
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It's awesome! I feel like I have relationships with some of the guys from eyeon; from seeing them at the shows and talking to them on the phone.
It's great working with a company where you can get a human being on the phone that's not a flunky who doesn't really know the software.
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| eyeon: Looking forward, how do you feel Fusion 5 will improve your workflow? What specific features of Fusion 5 do you see as a benefit to your work? |
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The 3D environment is an important feature. As effects work is getting stronger and stronger, people are trying to comp things in moving shots.
The 3D tracking is getting so easy to use, and it's not too expensive. You can take your deta, bring it into Fusion, line up your shots, add smoke or product
replacement, or integrate a special effect with hand-held shots. Things like that. I used to do all that in LightWave before, and then render out the layers.
So I'm very excited to be able to do all that in Fusion. And do it all within a compositing package. It is really going to streamline the workflow. For the most
part, I'm a one man shop. So it's important for me to have a package that complements that. I'm a big Fusion fanatic.
All images courtesy of 12Forward.
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